


thanks, I hate you

by starryhoch (slytherminie)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Office, Attempt at Humor, Banter, M/M, Minor Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/ Lee Seokmin | DK, Rivals to Lovers, jeonghan likes to antagonize pretty boys, joshua is too nice for his own good... or is he?, once again i wrote a rom com, the mortifying ordeal of being known vs the gratifying ordeal of being understood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 01:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30098217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherminie/pseuds/starryhoch
Summary: Joshua smiles, and for the first time in the last few weeks Jeonghan can tell it’s a real one, one that reaches his eyes and warms his face.“I thought you were just a shallow little bitch,” Joshua admits, chuckling when Jeonghan glares at him. “But you actually seem to be more caring and sweet than I thought you were.”“No, you were right. I’m a shallow little bitch.”
Relationships: Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan
Comments: 9
Kudos: 111





	thanks, I hate you

**Author's Note:**

> this started out as a way to write some nice old office rivalry with a dash of smut but the smut got lost along the way and feelings got involded. ouch. they're soft, handle carefully. hope you enjoy <33

“Cheol.”

Seungcheol is scrolling through his phone, neck bent forward and a concentrated frown on his face. From where he’s sitting, Jeonghan can’t exactly see what he’s looking at, but he would love to take an educated guess. Instead of doing so, he bites on his tongue and calls for his friend once again.

“Cheol-ah.”

This time he gets a noise back, a low hum that means Seungcheol has heard him, at least. Reclining back in his chair, Jeonghan puts his eyes on the ceiling, letting out an annoyed huff. He hates being ignored.

“Don’t you think the new hire is a bit too nice?”

Another noncommittal noise comes from Seungcheol’s general direction, and Jeonghan decides he’s already tired of playing nice. 

“Cheol, should I send an e-mail to the higher-ups and inform them that you and your boyfriend exchange nudes during working hours?”

That’s what finally gets Seungcheol’s attention, his friend almost dropping his phone on the floor in his haste to block the screen and put it face down on his desk. There’s a blush high on his cheeks when he throws a glare at Jeonghan.

“I wasn’t looking at Soonyoung’s nudes!” He says, candidly confirming that he was _indeed_ looking at Soonyoung’s nudes. A snort gets out of Jeonghan’s mouth as he rolls his eyes. “Sure you weren’t.”

“What do you want?” Seungcheol bites back, sounding and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but here, sitting at the desk in front of Jeonghan’s. Too bad, Jeonghan thinks, he loves teasing Seungcheol. It’s the best form of entertainment during long and boring days at the office, just like this one.

“I asked you if you don’t think that the new hire is a bit too nice.”

Seungcheol pretends to think about it while browsing through his computer, probably looking at the layout he is perfecting from the magazine’s issue coming out the following month. Or at porn, Jeonghan can’t tell from where he’s sitting behind his computer screen. Squinting at him, Jeonghan taps his nails over the surface of his desk in a show of impatience.

“Who?” Seungcheol asks after a couple of minutes, clearly playing coy. “Seokmin-ssi? He’s nice, yes.”

Jeonghan bends his neck side to side to make it crack, sighing in satisfaction once it does. 

“No, not the intern,” Jeonghan huffs, planting his elbows on either sides of his keyboard and his chin on his open palms to peer at Seungcheol over both of their screens. “But that reminds me, how is that going?”

Seungcheol freezes in his seat, his pupils dilating in fear, like a mouse that has seen a cat approaching and knows exactly how that will end up for him. A grin pulls at Jeonghan’s lips. 

“If not the intern, then you must be talking about Joshua Hong.”

Jeonghan recoils at the mention of the man, his skin crawling, his teeth baring. With a cursory glance at his face, Seungcheol knows he’s said the right name. He huffs a giggle, tapping at his keyboard instead of looking at Jeonghan, ignoring the eyes that are boring holes through his skull. When he finally moves his gaze back on Jeonghan, the smile on his lips is verging on teasing, and Jeonghan wants to wipe it off his face with his teeth. 

“Joshua is nice,” Seungcheol confirms, his grin broadening when Jeonghan sits straighter in his chair and folds his arms over his chest. “I don’t think he’s _too nice_ , though.” He pauses, one of his eyebrows raising. “I don’t think there’s such a thing as too nice.”

“Trust me, there is.” Jeonghan mumbles under his breath, his nails digging in his own arms to keep himself from reaching out and bashing Seungcheol’s head against his keyboard when his smirk gets even wider. 

“You’re just jealous because everyone likes him.”

“I’m not,” Jeonghan denies, his teeth gritted together. That only gets Seungcheol to laugh out loud, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “I’m not! I just think he must be hiding something. He’s too nice.”

“And what would he be hiding?” Seungcheol is clearly enjoying torturing him, and Jeonghan regrets bringing up Joshua’s name in the first place. Annoyed, he dives behind his screen to avoid Seungcheol’s gaze. “Maybe the fact that he’s a decent human being? I know you can’t relate, Jeonghan-ah.”

“There’s just _something_ about him,” Jeonghan grumbles under his breath, but Seungcheol is close enough to hear him anyway. 

“Stop trying to antagonize the new hire,” Seungcheol chastises him, rolling his eyes when Jeonghan moves his leg to kick him under the table. They’re sitting too far away from each other for Jeonghan to reach him, but that doesn’t stop him from trying anyway. 

“Joshua is a perfectly nice guy.”

“See that’s not true. Seokmin is a perfectly nice guy,” Jeonghan counters, tapping his forefinger over his chin in contemplation. “He has this aura around him, all sunny smiles and puppy-like energy, and you just _know_ that he’s a good boy.”

Seungcheol chokes on his own spit at the words, but that doesn’t stop Jeonghan from continuing his speech.

“Joshua, on the other hand, is nice enough to pass off as genuine, but I’m convinced of the fact that there must be more than what meets the eye.” Jeonghan thinks of the perfectly polished smile Joshua Hong gives him every time they meet each other in the breakroom, where Jeonghan pours himself a cup of coffee and Joshua munches over a protein bar or something equally annoying.

“He has this weird energy,” Jeonghan goes on to explain, but Seungcheol rolls his eyes at him, cocking his head to the side. 

“Every time a man hotter than you gets hired, you try to find something wrong with him.”

With a scandalized tiny gasp, Jeonghan brings his hands to his chest, feigning a mortal wound to his heart. 

“You’re telling me you consider Joshua Hong to be hotter than me?” It’s all for theatrics, but Jeonghan enjoys teasing Seungcheol more than anything, especially during days like these - where work is slow and deadlines aren’t upon them; Jeonghan works best under pressure, or maybe he’s just a procrastinator. One of the two. 

Seungcheol scoffs, staring at Jeonghan with disbelief written all over his face. “You’re telling me you don’t consider Joshua Hong to be hotter than you?”

“No one in this establishment is hotter than me.”

“Kim Mingyu would like to disagree.”

Biting his lip, Jeonghan lets his mind wander to the photographer for a brief second - more specifically, to the denim-on-denim outfit he was wearing the previous week, no shirt under his jean jacket. 

“Ok, maybe Mingyu deserves the title of hottest man in the building.”

“Still, you won’t admit that Joshua is hotter than you.”

“Over my dead body.”

With a roll of his eyes, Seungcheol dives back behind his computer screen. “It is not that serious,” he says, and then adds, “and Joshua is nice and pretty, get over it.”

“Should I tell Soonyoung that you’re calling another man nice and pretty?” 

The sounds of Seungcheol typing at his keyboard fill the air, clearly having decided that he has entertained Jeonghan long enough, and that he should go back to fulfill his job duties - boring, so damn boring. 

“I will show you that Joshua Hong isn’t as nice as you all think,” Jeonghan promises, opening the notepad on his screen to start typing a battle plan.

～

_Step 1: get under Joshua’s skin_

“Oh, Joshua-ssi, it seems like you gained some weight during the holidays.”

Joshua is sitting in the breakroom, one leg crossed over the other while he munches on a snack, something healthy that looks - and probably tastes - like cardboard. He raises his head in Jeonghan’s direction, slightly tilting his chin in his direction. The expression on his face is blank, nowhere near the sunny smile that he graces everyone else with. 

Jeonghan’s plan has started to work, Joshua’s perfectly polite facade crumbling before his eyes. He’s been pestering Joshua for weeks now, teasing him and poking fun at him with veiled animosity at every chance he gets. Slowly, Joshua’s pristine smile has started to slip off his face every time Jeonghan enters the room, to be replaced by an expression that Jeonghan can’t quite place. He doesn’t know what it means, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying it nonetheless. 

“My parents came to visit from the States, and we went out to eat together more often than not,” Joshua explains, even though what just came out of Jeonghan’s mouth is nothing but a lie; Joshua looks exactly like he did before they took ten days of rest for the Christmas holidays. If anything, he looks even better, clearly relaxed and well rested - Jeonghan would never say that to his face.

Joshua sighs, making Jeonghan turn in his direction while his hands are busy filling his mug with coffee. 

“I’ll just have to hit the gym a couple times more this week,” he bemoans, crossing his arms over his chest. Jeonghan doesn’t look, but he knows that his biceps strain the fabric of his knitted pastel sweater. Cocky asshole. “Do you wanna come with? I might need the motivation a gym buddy could give me.”

Jeonghan’s grip on his mug grows tighter, his knuckles going white around the handle. What a show-off. 

“Aren’t you usually going with Mingyu?” 

“The more the merrier!” Joshua grins, his eyes curling up, his plump lips stretching over his teeth. It’s a fake smile, Jeonghan could tell even from another room. 

“The gym isn’t really my scene,” Jeonghan grins back, saccharine sweet when he adds: “We could find something else to do together!”

At that, Joshua sits straighter in his chair, his eyes sparkling. “Like what?” He asks, but he doesn’t give Jeonghan any time to reply, putting one hand over his chin in thought. “Maybe we should ask Seokmin to join us. I heard you like having fun with the interns,” he drones on, unperturbed by Jeonghan’s sharp intake of breath. 

Before he can overthink it, Jeonghan is closing the space between them, walking into Joshua’s personal space until he’s slamming the mug still in his hand on the table next to where Joshua is sitting with a peaceful smile on his annoyingly pretty face.

Jeonghan’s free hand moves on Joshua’s shoulder, gripping the muscle between his fingers, bending his neck down to look him in the eyes. The expression on Joshua’s face morphs into a smirk, something a little vicious at the edges - Jeonghan knows that smirk; it’s been on his own face enough times to recognize it as familiar. 

“Careful of what you say next,” Jeonghan threatens him, nostrils flaring. It’s a fake rumor, something that has been cleared up a long time ago, but still a fresh scar on his ego - he almost got kicked out of the magazine because an intern thought screaming bloody murder would advance his career. Everyone knows he lied, but that doesn’t mean it’s something he likes to be reminded of. 

“Oh, Yoon Jeonghan doesn’t like when people prod into his past?” Joshua bats his eyelashes up at him, his long fingers moving to fix the collar of Jeonghan’s shirt, undoing the first button in the process. “You should stop trying to get in my business, if you don’t want me to look into yours.” 

There’s a challenge in Joshua’s eyes, the pristine facade melted to show what’s beneath, what he’s really like. He was right, Jeonghan thinks, Joshua is not nice; he’s exactly like Jeonghan, all teeth and biting words. Despite his best efforts, a triumphant smile blooms on his face. This is exactly what he wanted.

“Keep digging, if you want,” Jeonghan encourages him, his fingers caressing Joshua’s shoulder, trailing along his clavicle, towards his neck. “But be careful of where you put the dirt. I wouldn’t want you to end up being smothered by it.” 

A cough makes both of them turn in the direction of the door, moving in unison to look at the newcomer. Seokmin stands at the entrance, paralyzed, clearly uncomfortable. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you…” 

“It’s ok, Seokmin-ah.” Jeonghan takes his coffee with him before making his way out of the room. “We were done talking, anyway.”

～

_Step 2: find the skeletons hidden inside Joshua’s wardrobe_

Easier said than done. 

Despite how hard he tries to prod into Joshua’s past, all he gets back are kind words - from his old coworkers, from his friends back in the States that Jeonghan contacted through Facebook, from his elementary school teacher that he tracked down through a complicated Internet search. Everyone seems to love Joshua Hong. 

“Joshua is a delight,” Mingyu says when he drops by to pick Jeonghan up for lunch. It’s a monthly occurrence, because Mingyu isn’t often at the office - his job is done mostly in the shooting studio, or outside. When he drops by is mostly to annoy Jeonghan and take him out for lunch. Despite being the younger of the two, he always tries to treat Jeonghan to a free meal; Jeonghan never lets him.

They walk side by side, huddled together for warmth as they make their way towards the restaurant they like to frequent during their monthly hangouts. Mingyu is swallowed by his padding, a coat so long and large that makes him look like a mountain, its fuchsia color enveloping almost the entirety of Mingyu’s body. Jeonghan’s hand is in one of his gigantic pockets, Mingyu’s fingers intertwined with his own. It’s cold on the streets, the January air making their breaths show up in condensation clouds. They don’t talk much on the way, too focused on walking fast and getting out of the freezing streets. 

When they get inside the restaurant they both emit sighs of relief, sitting down at their favourite table since it’s free. The place is a casual Korean BBQ, nothing too fancy. Jeonghan likes their side dishes, and Mingyu likes their pork belly.

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing in his past,” Mingyu reteraites, smiling at the waitress when she brings them their food, all sharp canines that get her to almost spill the plates in her hands. “He changed jobs just because he moved back to Seoul after being for a couple of years in Los Angeles.”

“Why did he go there? Why is he back?”

Mingyu shrugs his shoulders, his cheeks filled to the brim with kimchi and rice. A minute passes before he manages to swallow everything down, and Jeonghan has almost forgotten what they were talking about to begin with, too immersed in his own food.

“He said he missed Seoul,” Mingyu takes a sip of his drink, almost spilling it in his plate once he puts the glass back on the table. His clumsiness is so endearing that sometimes Jeonghan forgets how big and tall and sexy he is. Such a pity that he’s taken. 

“He also said something about feeling homesick while at home, which was quite heartbreaking.”

Jeonghan feigns vomiting back into his rice. What he’s getting from this conversation aren’t skeletons, just useless intel that confirms once again how Joshua Hong has fooled everyone into believing that he’s nothing but a pretty face attached to a nice personality. Lies, Jeonghan thinks. Lies that he’s seen through.

“He told me I resemble a mosquito last week,” Jeonghan informs Mingyu, digging his chopsticks in a slice of grilled pork that Mingyu has put on top of his rice. “That’s not nice.”

Mingyu cocks his head to the side, regarding Jeonghan with a focused stare, his eyebrows drawn together in thought. 

“I mean, he’s not wrong,” he concludes, giggling when Jeonghan tosses his balled up napkin at his face. “I’m just saying! The resemblance is there: annoying, buzzing, persistent. Like to drink blood.” 

“I don’t drink blood,” Jeonghan petulantly points out, stealing food from Mingyu’s plate in retaliation to his words. The younger lets him, smiling softly at him once he’s filled his cheeks with it. 

“Still, I can see why he said that.” Mingyu’s grin grows when Jeonghan grumbles instead of counter-arguing. “I’m sure he had a reason to call you that, anyway.”

“Maybe I told him that he looks like a worm,” Jeonghan admits under his breath, stealing another hearty chuckle out of Mingyu.

“You said the same thing to Jihoon when you first met him,” Mingyu recalls, smiling softly at the mention of his husband of two years - time flies, Jeonghan thinks, it seems yesterday that the younger introduced them, when they were still just casually dating. 

“You can try to fool who you want, hyung, but you’re not fooling me.” Teeth sinking on his bottom lip, it’s clear that Mingyu is trying to suppress a smile, his amusement making his eyes twinkle under the warm lights. Instead of giving him attention, Jeonghan focuses back on the meat frizzling on the grill. 

“You just can’t stand that Joshua-hyung is hot and that he isn’t wrapped around your little finger like everyone else.”

“Are you saying that you’re wrapped around my little finger as well?” There’s a grin on Jeonghan’s face when he teases Mingyu, sliding the cooked meat in Mingyu’s plate - the grin is reciprocated, only kinder and softer, because that’s how Mingyu smiles, that’s how Mingyu is. 

“Of course I am.”

When Jeonghan gets back to the office, it’s only to find Joshua lounging in _his_ chair, chatting with Seungcheol as if they’ve been best friends for all their lives. It irks Jeonghan, Mingyu’s words echoing inside his mind when he kicks at the wheels of the chair to get Joshua’s legs off his desk.

“Jeonghan-ssi!” Joshua greets him, spinning around and beaming up at him when Jeonghan puts a hand out to stop his movement. “Cheollie was telling me all about your incredible ideas for the upcoming issue.”

 _“Cheollie?”_ Jeonghan asks, sounding disbelieving to his own years. The sparkle in Joshua’s eyes grows, clearly amused by Jeonghan’s offended tone and by the way Jeonghan tugs him out of his chair and pushes him towards his own office. 

“I’m making friends, is that a problem?” 

“It’s not a problem,” Jeonghan lies through his teeth, because Seungcheol is _his_ best friend, and he doesn’t like sharing. 

“Your face is saying another thing altogether.”

Despite his best efforts, Jeonghan doesn’t manage to school his face in the indifferent mask he would like to wear when he’s around Joshua. He lets his eyebrows knit, his mouth curl down in annoyance - Joshua chuckles at his sour expression, but at least Jeonghan manages to kick him out of the office. 

“See you later, Jeonghan-ssi!” Joshua yells before disappearing down the corridor, hopefully to not be seen for the rest of the day and actually do his job instead of wasting time. 

If Jeonghan mulls over Mingyu’s words for the rest of the day, that’s between him and his Google search on how to poison a coworker without being caught. 

～

_Step 3: show everyone else who Joshua really is_

“C’mon, he’s nothing like that,” Soonyoung pouts, clearly already too drunk to understand half of the things that Jeonghan is telling him. They’re at their monthly company dinner, which is just an excuse to get plastered and play drinking games. This time around the excuse works even better, because it’s Seokmins birthday - and everyone is filling his glass, making him drink shot upon shot. 

Soonyoung, the lightweight that he is, is already three sheets to the wind, and he’s trying to lay kisses on all of them, but especially on Seokmin, who keeps throwing glances at Seungcheol and looking terrified every time Soonyoung approaches him.

To spare the poor guy, Jeonghan has dragged Soonyoung at the other end of the table, and is now making him drink water to sober him up at least a little bit. 

“I’m telling you, it’s all an act.”

“He volunteers at a center for rescued animals, hyung,” Soonyoung tells him, sounding far too coherent for the way he was trying to smooch Seokmin three minutes before. “There’s no way he’s faking that as well.”

Jeonghan pouts a little, making the soju inside his tumbler roll around as he stares at the clear liquid before throwing it back. 

“Why does no one believe me when I say that he’s evil?”

“Who’s evil?” 

Sliding in the empty seat next to Soonyoung, Joshua puts an arm around his shoulders and brings him closer to him, craning his neck to rest his cheek over the top of his head. Not at all perturbed by the sudden skinship, Soonyoung huddles closer to him, almost purring. 

Suppressing the need to smack their heads together, Jeonghan fills his own glass once again. 

“Jeonghan was telling me all about-” Soonyoung starts, but Jeonghan is faster, shoving the soju in his face; the younger’s eyes sparkle at the sight, his hands grabbing the glass and drinking like a man in the desert. 

“Didn’t Seungcheol ask you to keep him off the liquor?” Joshua asks, sounding too amused for Jeonghan’s liking. He’s sitting in his own chair now, but he still has an arm around Soonyoung’s shoulders, keeping him seated when Seokmin passes by in his quest to the toilet. 

“Seungcheol is a spoilsport,” Soonyoung grumbles, turning his head to burrow his face in Joshua’s shoulder and leave a wet smooch there, making Joshua giggle and ruffle his hair. 

“Seungcheol wants what’s best for you,” Joshua counters, bringing a cup of water to Soonyoung’s face and making sure that he drinks it all before letting him put it back down. 

“You’re right, Jeonghan-hyung,” Soonyoung says, eyeing Joshua as he speaks. Jeonghan does the same, taking in his baby blue shirt and the way it stretches over his chest. “He’s evil.”

“Oh, you were talking about me?” Joshua grins, peering at Jeonghan over Soonyoung’s messy head, “Why am I not surprised?” 

“He was telling me that-” 

“Seokmin-ah!” Jeonghan calls when he sees the intern reappearing in the room. The younger man freezes in his steps, Soonyoung jumping at the occasion and getting out of his seat to drape himself around him, pressing their faces together. 

“Seokmin-ah, I missed you!” He wails, and Seokmin can’t do much but let himself be dragged towards the other end of the table, where Seungcheol is laughing at something Jihoon just said. Jeonghan follows their movements until they sit down, Soonyoung pushing Seokmin in the seat next to Seungcheol and plopping himself in his lap. Even from the distance, Jeonghan sees color draining from Seokmin’s face. 

“You’re so mean.”

Jeonghan almost forgot that Joshua is still sitting in front of him. 

“I’m just trying to do them a favor,” Jeonghan reasons, turning towards the newly acquired bane of his existence. Joshua has one elbow on the table, his chin resting on his propped up hand as he stares at the other end of the room, where Soonyoung is stifling his laugh by hiding his face against Seokmin’s neck. Taking a moment to appreciate his side profile, Jeonghan lets his eyes roam over Joshua’s features while he’s distracted; he has a pretty face, Jeonghan can’t deny that. 

His dark hair is styled in messy waves that fall over his eyebrows, not covering his eyes but casting shadows over them, adding to the dramatic effect that the eyeliner has on his cat-like gaze. There’s a single pendant earring hanging from his lobe, and Jeonghan almost wants to reach out and touch the silver chain. He sits on his hands instead, looking away fast enough that Joshua doesn’t catch him staring. 

“You’re an interesting specimen, Yoon Jeonghan. I think we could be friends.”

“Friends?” Jeonghan scoffs, putting his folded arms over the table and regretting it immediately when he feels the stickiness of the surface against his skin. He sits back in his chair, making a face. Like a real gentleman, Joshua picks up a tissue and offers it to him. 

“Friends,” he repeats, shaking the paper tissue in front of Jeonghan’s nose. Jeonghan snatches it from his fingers and wipes the alcohol off his skin, mulling about Joshua’s words in silence. There are eyes on him, he knows it, but they don’t bother him - if anything, the idea of being the center of Joshua’s attention makes him a tiny bit excited. 

“Why would I be friends with you?” 

“I told you, we’re similar. More than I initially thought.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Joshua smiles, and for the first time in the last few weeks Jeonghan can tell it’s a real one, one that reaches his eyes and warms his face. 

“I thought you were just a shallow little bitch,” Joshua admits, chuckling when Jeonghan glares at him. “But you actually seem to be more caring and sweet than I thought you were.”

“No, you were right. I’m a shallow little bitch.”

It feels weird to be read so easily by someone he was supposed to be uncovering, by someone he despises, for some reason. Yet, as Joshua stares at him with the corners of his mouth still curled up in a grin, Jeonghan doesn’t feel as annoyed as he should be. Maybe it’s the alcohol. 

“Sure you are, Jeonghan-ssi.”

～

_Step 4:_ ~~_slip poison in Joshua’s coffee_ ~~ _get coffee for Joshua_

Jeonghan is scowling at the black beverage inside the cup between his hands. This feels stupid. He doesn’t know why he’s doing it. 

Well, to be fair, he knows why he’s doing it. He’s seen the bags under Joshua’s eyes, has seen him staying behind at the office for three evenings in a row - curled up in his chair, his head disappearing behind his screen. He looked worse for wear, especially the mornings after, when he showed up with sleep still tucked in the corners of his eyes that he tried to rub away with his balled up fists.

So here Jeonghan is, with two cups of coffee in his hands and a destination in mind, as he walks through empty hallways and deserted rooms, feeling like he’s living the beginning of a horror movie as he navigates through the maze of desks with no people behind them.

Once he reaches Joshua’s office, he pauses. The door is made of opaque glass, and Joshua isn’t facing him; Jeonghan can see the silhouette of his hunched shoulders as he types away at his keyboard, clearly focused. 

It isn’t late, but Jeonghan feels the tiredness of a full day of work on his shoulders, and he can see how the same weight is making Joshua sink further in his chair as he stretches his arms in the air, above his head. The coffee is probably getting cold. Jeonghan should move.

He knocks on the glass door even if it’s ajar, startling Joshua in the process, making him jump up in his seat. When he turns around his eyebrows are knitted together, but the sour expression melts in one of surprise once his eyes focus on Jeonghan.

“Oh,” he starts, his mouth moving around the single syllable. “It’s you. What are you doing here at this hour, Jeonghan-ssi? You almost scared me to death.”

Jeonghan rakes his brain for an excuse - he should have thought of one as he walked there, should have had it ready for this exact moment. There’s a half-assed lie on the tip of his tongue, but when he meets Joshua’s gaze he sees the dark bags around his eyes once again, and the truth falls out of his lips, unprompted.

“I got you some coffee. I thought you’d like some company to keep you awake.” 

There’s a smile on Joshua’s face, a real one that stretches his lips and makes an amused light sparkle in his gaze. Feeling blood rush to his cheeks, Jeonghan makes sure to duck his face as he moves through the room, leaving Joshua’s cup next to his mouse and walking past his desk to retrieve an empty chair for himself. 

By the time he’s sitting on it, he hopes his blush has dissolved - and if it hasn’t, he tries to hide it by taking a sip of his own coffee. 

“Thank you,” Joshua says, still grinning as he drinks from the cup Jeonghan has brought him. There’s the number of the barista scrawled in a pristine handwriting on the side, but Joshua doesn’t seem to notice - it wasn’t meant for him, but Jeonghan doesn’t care for it either. The girl was pretty, sure, yet not his type.

Joshua hums low in his throat while he sips on the warm beverage, closing his eyes as he drinks slowly. 

“How did you know my coffee order?”

“Mingyu,” Jeonghan says, trying to sound nonchalant. “He made me swear that I wouldn’t slip poison into it before telling me.”

The sound of fingers tapping on keys resumes as Joshua goes back to typing, his focus shifting to his screen.

“If there’s poison in it, I hope it kills me soon. I’m exhausted.” 

“You sure look so.”

It’s not intended to be a jab, just a statement, and Joshua seems to understand it because he doesn’t even turn to glare at Jeonghan, but instead lets out a defeated sigh. 

“I can’t wait for the weekend, I need to sleep for more than four hours per night.”

Jeonghan doesn’t reply, just rolls his chair closer to where Joshua is sitting and looks at the computer screen over Joshua’s shoulder. The wall of black text staring back at him is in English, and Jeonghan barely understands whatever the article is about - a new fashion trend coming from somewhere in Europe, or something similar. 

He scoots closer to Joshua, sitting at his side and drinking from his cup in silence as Joshua works on his article, pulling up different sources, skimming through pages and pages of stuff Jeonghan doesn’t want to even try to understand. Despite the late hour he seems focused, Jeonghan notices as he tilts his head to the side to study his face - from up close, the circle under his eyes are even darker than they seemed.

“Stop staring at me,” Joshua bites out, regarding Jeonghan with a quick side glance. What was in Jeonghan’s coffee that he’s suddenly blushing like a teenager with a crush? To hide the redness of his cheeks he does the next best thing he can think of: he bends his neck and gently rests his head over Joshua’s shoulder, startling him. Joshua emits a small sound of protest, but Jeonghan shushes him loudly.

“Finish this up so we can go home.”

“You can go whenever you want,” Joshua points out, but he resumes his work anyway, paying no mind to the added weight resting against his collarbone. 

“I could, but then there would be no point in bringing you coffee and keeping you company.”

“Isn’t it a bit weird that you’re doing these things?” 

It’s a valid question, and Jeonghan sputters for a second, unable to find a good enough reply. In the end he settles on: “Consider it a small truce.”

A comfortable silence fills the room after that, the only sounds coming from the clicks of the mouse and keyboard Joshua is working with. The letters and images on Joshua’s screen blur together in Jeonghan’s tired eyes, so he lets them fall shut for just a second to avoid straining them. 

When he opens them again, the screen is black, the computer turned off. Joshua has his phone in his hand, scrolling through Instagram with his right hand. His left arm is around Jeonghan’s shoulders, keeping his head in a comfortable position against Joshua’s chest. 

He blinks a couple of times, realizing that instead of helping Joshua stay awake, he’s just fallen asleep with his face squished over his shoulder, and that Joshua has finished working and would probably like to go home. When he moves to sit up in his chair, Joshua lets him go, his arm falling back to his own side.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Jeonghan grumbles, stifling a yawn with the palm of his hand. When he looks at Joshua, he sees a warm smile and kind eyes. It’s an unusual expression, one that Jeonghan hasn’t seen on Joshua’s face for a while - not when Joshua is looking at him, at least, because all he’s getting nowadays are glares and eye-rolls. 

“I finished one minute ago, I was going to shake you awake in a second.”

Jeonghan can’t tell if it’s the truth or not, can’t decipher what the twinkle in Joshua’s gaze means. Instead of replying, he stretches his arms in the air, trying to wake himself up since he still has to drive home, and he doesn’t want to fall asleep and go crash against a pole or something. He knows it’s late because the lights in the hallway have dimmed down, which happens only once it’s past midnight. 

They both should be in their beds. Separate ones, Jeonghan reminds himself. The fact that Joshua’s shoulder is comfortable doesn’t mean anything. He tries to wake himself better by shaking his head and patting his cheeks while Joshua gets up from his seat and pockets his phone, taking his jacket off the racket and sliding it on. 

“Shall we go?” Joshua asks, cocking his head to the side to indicate the door with a nod. Jeonghan follows his steps, and wonders how he never noticed how good Joshua’s ass looks in these pants - he’s pretty sure it’s not the first time that he’s looked at Joshua’s backside in them, but maybe his tired brain is just pointing out the obvious. 

“Do you still go to the gym with Mingyu?”

The question slips out of his mouth and catches him by surprise just as much as it does with Joshua, who turns his head as he walks down the corridor to raise an eyebrow in his direction. 

“Yeah? Why are you asking?”

Jeonghan isn’t sure either, so he just shrugs his shoulders. Maybe he’s wondering if he should join their gym sessions just to see Joshua in some very short shorts, but if he is he refuses to say it out loud. 

Once they reach the parking lot, Joshua waves at him in goodbye before getting inside his car, and Jeonghan sits behind the steering wheel of his own for a couple of minutes, staring off into the darkness, wondering what exactly is wrong with him, and when did the plan to uncover Joshua Hong’s true nature turned into this mess. 

When he bumps his head against the steering wheel, he’s glad there’s no one there to see how he jumps up at the loud sound of the clacson.

～

_Step five: bring Joshua to his knees_

Jeonghan isn’t so sure of what this step of his plan entailed, but he knows for a fact that getting Joshua to his knees in the literal sense of the words wasn’t part of it. 

It’s a pretty sight, Jeonghan has to admit it, Joshua on all fours on the floor of his office, but it’s definitely unexpected.

“What are you looking for again?” Jeonghan asks, once again distracted from his draft by Joshua’s ass in those grey fitted pants he likes to wear so often. 

“It’s an earring,” Joshua replies for the nth time, not sounding bothered by Jeonghan’s constant questioning. He bends even further down to look under a shelf and Jeonghan balances his chair on two wheels to look at his backside over the edge of his desk. Impressive, truly.

“And you lost it here because…?” 

“I was hanging out with Cheollie,” Joshua replies, sighing and resigning to the fact that his precious earring isn’t under that shelf. It’s late on a Friday afternoon, and there aren’t many people left in the office. Jeonghan has a deadline to meet on Monday, and he’d rather stay behind today than work from home during the weekend. 

“See, this is what happens when you try to befriend people you shouldn’t get close with,” Jeonghan taunts him, chuckling when Joshua sits on his haunches only to glare at him. “What? I’m only saying the truth.”

“No, you’re only saying that because you’re jealous.” It sounds annoyed, but Jeonghan has slowly started to pick apart Joshua’s moods and tones, and he knows this is just him teasing. 

“Me? Jealous? Of you?”

“Don’t sound so disbelieving, Yoon Jeonghan.” Joshua is crawling around the floor like a toddler who’s just learned to balance himself on his hands and knees, but the lightness stays in his tone. “We both know you care about Seungcheollie more than you want to admit.”

“I just don’t like when you try to steal my friends,” Jeonghan points out, trying to focus back on his work instead of the man bent in half just two steps from his desk. “First Mingyu, then Soonyoung, and now Seungcheol. Seokmin likes you better than he likes me, too.”

“That’s just because you never stop teasing him.”

A pout curls Jeonghan’s mouth as he drags his mouse over a picture, resizing it and scaling it to make it fit the layout. He throws a glance in Joshua’s direction only to find out that he’s already looking at him.

“Admit it, you’re jealous.”

Pretending he can’t hear Joshua is easy, especially when he’s narrowing his eyes at his screen and trying to make sense of this stupid layout page. What isn’t easy is ignoring Joshua when he moves to kneel right next to Jeonghan’s desk, staring at him from the carpeted floor. He manages to do so for a minute, and then gives up all pretenses and moves his gaze to him.

There’s a smirk on Joshua’s face as he sits there, looking up at Jeonghan with amusement written in his eyes. 

“I’m not jealous,” Jeonghan denies, trying to sound annoyed but ending his sentence with a whine. Another chuckle gets out of Joshua’s mouth, pretty, melodic. Jeonghan hates everything about it, hates everything about Joshua and the way he angles his head upwards to look at Jeonghan with a knowing gaze, his adam apple exposed by the movement. He has a very long neck, Jeonghan distractedly notices. 

“Admit it,” Joshua says, inching closer to Jeonghan, chin still tilted towards him. One of his hands moves to wrap around Jeonghan’s knee, pulling at it until Jeonghan’s chair rotates on its wheels and Jeonghan is no longer facing his computer, but finds Joshua right in front of him instead.

Jeonghan isn’t sure how they’re finding themselves in this position, but Joshua is kneeling between his parted legs, both of his palms resting on his thighs to keep them apart, and his grin has turned that kind of vicious that only Jeonghan knows, that he only shows to him. 

“Admit it,” he repeats, his voice just above a whisper, a sinful sound that shouldn’t come out of his mouth in a place like this - Jeonghan has to dig his nails into his chair’s armrests to remind himself that they’re still in their workplace. 

“This looks like the start of some bad porn video,” Jeonghan tries to joke, letting out a strained chuckle that is followed by Joshua’s own, his laugh definitely louder. For a second Jeonghan lets himself believe that it worked, that Joshua will crawl away and go back looking for his stupid earring.

Instead of moving away, Joshua sets his back straighter, craning his neck up. One of his hands moves higher up on Jeonghan’s thigh, his thumb stroking along the seam of his pants, making Jeonghan take a sharp breath in. Inside his mind there’s static noise, followed by a low rumble of _whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck_ as Joshua bites down on his bottom lip, the beginning of a smirk at the corners of his mouth.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Joshua says, but all Jeonghan can focus on is the warm weight of Joshua’s hands over his thighs, reaching his skin through the fabric of his pants. Combusting into flames feels like a good option now, and Jeonghan wishes he could commit arson on himself as a way to get out of this situation. What is Joshua trying to do? Is this part of their rivalry? Jeonghan just sits in his chair, lips parted, unable to process. 

“Feels like I just typed _‘office blowjob’_ in the search bar,” Joshua drones on, his fingers smoothing over the fabric of Jeonghan’s slacks, rubbing small circles into his flesh. Almost choking on his own spit, Jeonghan lets out another strained chuckle, his eyes not leaving Joshua’s hands as they trail along his legs, movements so slow that Jeonghan feels like the moment prolongs forever, as if he’s sitting in that chair with Joshua between his knees for literal years. 

“Josh…” Jeonghan starts, the name sticking to the roof of his mouth, but he’s unable to finish the word as Joshua’s face dips lower, his eyes moving from Jeonghan’s face to the zipper of his pants - maybe Jeonghan won’t need to commit arson, because his whole body feels like it’s going to start burning spontaneously soon enough, heat rising to his cheeks as all he can see is the crown of Joshua’s head.

“There it is!” 

Joshua dips even lower, his head disappearing below Jeonghan’s chair and reappearing with a triumphant smile on his face, something cradled on the open palm of his left hand. It’s a silver hoop, small, something Jeonghan has seen on Joshua’s lobe quite often. 

“I thought I’d never seen it again!” Joshua sounds delighted, a giggle escaping his lips as he slips the silver earring inside his pocket, putting his palms over Jeonghan’s knees to help himself to his feet, dusting his slacks off from the dirt he collected while crouching on the floor. 

Unable to process what just happened, Jeonghan sits in silence in his chair, gaping like a fish out of water at Joshua’s bright grin. 

“Well, I think I’ll get going, I don’t want to keep you from work.” 

In less than a second Joshua is walking away from where Jeonghan is still sitting frozen in place, and he’s taking his own jacket from where he left it folded over the back of Seungcheol’s chair when he got inside the room. He’s humming a tune below his breath as he puts the outerwear on, sending a dazzling smile in Jeonghan’s direction once he’s ready to go.

“Work _hard_ , Yoon Jeonghan.” Joshua salutes him with a friendly wave of his hand, as if that hand wasn’t clutching Jeonghan’s thigh just mere moments before. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

And he’s gone just like that, with one last wink thrown over his shoulder as he closes the glass door behind his back, disappearing down the hallway and out of the building before Jeonghan’s brain catches up with whatever just happened.

“What the hell?” Jeonghan asks the empty room, sagging in his chair and staring at the ceiling as his heart rate slows down and blood starts flowing back to his brain instead of his crotch area. Blinking slowly, he tries to wrap his head around what just happened - was Joshua flirting with him? Was he just trying to be funny? Does he have a hidden agenda? 

Jeonghan doesn’t have any answers, all he knows is that he needs to finish this project and rush home to take a cold shower - or a hot one, and let his thoughts wander to warm, big hands and pretty lips.

～

_Step 6: ?????????????_

Soonyoung is curled up on Seungcheol’s chair like a kitten, a mug of warm coffee between his hands as he stares at Jeonghan over the rim of it. Silence is interrupted only by the sound of Jeonghan’s fingers over the keyboard and the classical music coming from the speakers of Seungcheol’s computer. 

“Are you trying to read my mind?” Jeonghan has to ask at one point, tired of Soonyoung’s gaze boring through his skull. Instead of replying to him, Soonyoung narrows his eyes, his eyebrows knitting over them.

“I’m trying to see something.”

A tiny sigh gets past Jeonghan’s lips as he wonders where exactly did Seungcheol go, and why did he leave Soonyoung in his wake, as if he needs some sort of baby-sitter to make sure that he doesn’t leave his desk. 

His answer comes in the form of a head of dark hair peeking through the door, Joshua’s face popping up between the glass panels, big doey eyes searching the room before he lifts a single eyebrow. 

“Where’s Seungcheollie?” He asks Soonyoung, recoiling slightly when Soonyoung erupts in a boisterous laugh, one that sounds exactly like the one of a cartoon villain, exaggerated and far too cheery. 

“Oh, Shua-hyung,” Soonyoung says, rubbing his chin between his thumb and forefinger, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I mean, yes, that’s why I asked.”

“Are you sure?” Sitting straighter in his chair, Soonyoung puts both his elbows over Seungcheol’s desk and stares at Joshua with the same intensity he was reserving for Jeonghan just minutes before. “Are you here for Cheol-hyung?” 

“That’s what I said,” Joshua replies, cocking his head to the side in confusion. 

“That’s what you said, but is that what you mean?” 

Jeonghan keeps his eyes trained on his screen, trying to ignore the mess of a conversation that’s happening in front of him. He feels when Joshua walks into the room fully, feels the shift of air behind his back as the man moves to stand beside his chair even without looking up. There’s a hand on top of his shoulder that he pretends he can’t feel, but he straightens his back anyway, naturally drawn to the touch. 

“What are you implying, Soonyoung-ah?” 

“Hyung!” Three heads turn in the direction of a very frazzled Seokmin, standing at the door like a deer caught in the headlights, chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath, hands filled with papers.

“Soonyoung-hyung, I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Seokmin pouts, shaking the files in his hands like he wants to swat Soonyoung in the face with them through the space that separates them. “What are you doing here?”

Soonyoung isn’t slouching in his seat anymore, his chest puffed out - it’s ridiculous really, how Seokmin can’t see how hard Soonyoung is trying to impress him. 

“Cheol-hyung left me in charge of surveillance,” Soonyoung bites out, his eyes moving between Jeonghan’s face and Joshua’s hand on his shoulder. Suspicion is clear in the way he narrows his eyes when Joshua’s fingers finally let go of Jeonghan, as he moves further into the room and tugs Soonyoung up to his feet.

“Don’t you see how distressed Seokmin is? Stop disappearing on him.” Joshua murmurs something that Jeonghan can’t hear, something that makes Soonyoung’s cheeks bloom in crimson. It’s with a huff that he gets out of the room, walking with his nose upturned as if Joshua has just mortally offended him. 

“Let’s go Seokmin, these fuckers don’t need our company.”

It’s quiet again when Joshua takes Soonyoung’s place, rolling the chair he’s sitting on closer to Seungcheol’s desk and changing the piano piece coming through the speakers to something a little more lively. 

“You’ve been awfully silent lately,” Joshua points out, his chin resting on his open palms as he studies Jeonghan over the edge of Seungcheol’s screen. “What’s up?”

What’s up with Joshua? What does he want from Jeonghan? Those are the questions that have been plaguing Jeonghan’s mind for days now, since that stupid night and the stupid thoughts that followed - thoughts that stuck with him in the shower once he got home, thoughts that have been his companions when he closes his eyes and lets his hands roam over his body, imagining _other_ hands in their place. 

Hands that are now waving in front of his face, Joshua looking at him with concern in his eyes.

“Jeonghan-ah?” 

Jeonghan hums in acknowledgment, but doesn’t give any answers to Joshua. When this whole ordeal started, Jeonghan just wanted to prove to everyone that Joshua wasn’t as nice as he seemed, but along the way he lost sight of the prize, and now he’s sitting in front of the man in companionable silence, feeling swindled, side-tracked. 

In his quest he discovered that Joshua isn’t at all what he looks like; he’s much more than that. He’s smart and sweet, he loves his family and friends, he’s courteous. There’s an edge to his character, just a bit of hidden snark that lures Jeonghan in and makes him want to discover more and more, makes him want to dig inside him and find out who he really is - he wants the light, and he wants the darkness. He wants everything that Joshua has to offer.

But above everything else, Joshua has been able to read Jeonghan like an open book, adapting to his moods and giving him a challenge, a puzzle to solve. In his process of uncovering Joshua, Jeonghan has let himself be uncovered - Joshua saw through him, and managed to pick up the good parts, the small and most hidden pieces that make him who he is. And he seems to be enjoying them, digging his fingers in the spaces Jeonghan left open for him and dusting off parts of Jeonghan that he doesn’t let out very easily. 

When Jeonghan raises his eyes on Joshua, he finds him already looking at him, eyes sparkling under the neon lights of the office. 

“Are you sure you aren’t ill?” Joshua asks him, the corners of his mouth folded in a slight smile. Jeonghan wants to reach over and kiss it off his lips.

So he does. 

He’s out of his chair and on his feet in a heartbeat, following his gut feeling and the confusion written all over Joshua’s face as he takes the few steps separating them and tugs at the chair Joshua is sitting on to make it spin and face him.

“What’s up?” Joshua asks him, big eyes turned on Jeonghan’s face, waiting, trying to read him. For his benefit, Jeonghan licks his lips, and watches as Joshua’s gaze follows the movement, a giddy excitement filling his stomach at the sight. 

One of Jeonghan’s hands move to clutch Joshua’s shoulder, the other gripping the armrest of the chair as he bends his back to bring their faces closer together. 

“I’m about to kiss you,” Jeonghan tells him, the words spoken quietly in the small space separating them. 

“That’s against the workplace etiquette, isn’t it?” Joshua asks him, but Jeonghan hears the teasing in his voice, sees the way he sits straighter to get closer, feels his fingers clutching at the lapels of his shirt. 

“There’s no one here to report us.” 

“Then, by all means.”

When their mouths meet, Jeonghan realizes they should have been doing this since the beginning - his whole plan has been wrong from the start, but he’s glad he got side-tracked along the way. 

Joshua’s hands cradle Jeonghan’s face to keep him close, his lips parting on a soft whine that Jeonghan savours on the tip of his tongue, swallowing it down together with the butterflies that erupt inside his stomach when Joshua’s thumb strokes over his cheek. It’s a kiss that tastes of instant coffee and Joshua’s terrible protein bars, but Jeonghan doesn’t mind, he won’t ever mind if he gets to feel this buzzing in his veins every time his lips press against Joshua’s, every time their tongues meet, every time Joshua’s hands tug at his shirt until he’s sitting sideways on his lap.

There are warm palms on the small of Jeonghan’s back, drawing him in, closer and closer. They’re the same hands he dreamt of for weeks, the same fingers that trail along his spine and make goosebumps erupt over his skin as Joshua’s plush lips follow the edge of his jaw, pressing quick pecks along it and down the column of his neck, making him whine against Joshua’s shoulder, where his face is pressed. 

With a gentle tug to Joshua’s hair Jeonghan brings their lips back together as his fingers slip between soft locks. The hot want that has been pooling for weeks at the pit of his stomach floods his whole body, heats his cheeks up and makes his ears ring as Joshua nibbles on his bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth. If they weren’t seated on an office chair, Jeonghan would throw his legs on either side of Joshua’s lap and kiss him until they were both out of breath, making sure not to forget a single spot on his pretty face.

“I told Soonyoung not to leave you two alone!” Seungcheol’s voice booms from behind Jeonghan’s back, making them freeze with hands under shirts and between hair. Jeonghan presses one last peck on Joshua’s upper lip before opening his eyes, taking in the state of his disheveled locks and his bitten mouth, the way the collar of his shirt is askew. He adjusts it before turning towards Seungcheol, not getting up from where he is still sitting in Joshua’s lap. 

“Do I need to remind you that you’re a repeated offender?”

A pout curls Seungcheol’s lips as he crosses his arms over his chest, annoyance written in both his stance and features. Jeonghan isn’t fazed.

“At least do it in your own chair.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” 

Despite his words, Jeonghan gets to his feet and drags Joshua up with him. He doesn’t let go of his hand once they’re standing, interlacing their fingers instead. When he speaks, he’s looking at Joshua and smiling his most charming smile.

“Wasn’t there something we needed to discuss, Joshua-ssi?”

Joshua’s eyes are sparkling with mischief when he nods his head, but he’s looking at Seungcheol when he replies.

“I guess that since Cheollie doesn’t want to be privy to this intel, we should probably relocate to another room.”

There’s a disgusted expression on Seungcheol’s face when Jeonghan meets his gaze, but he can tell that Seungcheol is suppressing a smile by the way his mouth twitches with the effort to keep it straight. 

“Get out of my sight,” he says, nose upturned to show how disgusted he is. “And please, no sex in the toilet. We all have to use it.”

Jeonghan is already dragging Joshua out of the door when he turns to throw one last comment over his shoulder.

“Tell that to your boyfriends.”

Seeing the blush spreading on Seungcheol’s cheeks gives him great pleasure, but not more than pushing Joshua inside his office and sliding the door closed behind them before crowding him against it, throwing his arms around his neck before bringing their faces close together, until their noses are touching and their lips are a breath apart. 

“Now that no one can see you, you can stop being all nice and proper, Joshua-ssi.”

Joshua huffs a chuckle, his arms circling around Jeonghan’s middle, an embrace that reduces the space between them even more, their chest pressing together. 

“Now that no one can see you, you can stop pretending you’re so tough, Jeonghan-ssi.”

It’s with an incredible ease that Joshua lifts Jeonghan off the ground, spinning around so Jeonghan is the one being pressed against the door - as they spin, Jeonghan notices that the blinds to Joshua’s office window are wide open, but he finds out that he doesn’t care one bit if anyone sees them; if anything, they’re in for a treat. 

“It’s ok to care,” Joshua tells him, placing a soft kiss against his cheek bone. “It’s ok to show your feelings.”

“Feelings?” Jeonghan asks, his breath itching when Joshua skims his teeth over the sharp edge of his jaw. “What are you saying? Who ever talked about feelings?” 

There’s a small scoff coming out of Joshua’s mouth as it draws a path along Jeonghan’s neck. 

“There’s no need for talking when you look at me like _that_.”

Heat rises to Jeonghan’s cheeks, and he tries to stutter out a protest that gets drowned by Joshua’s lips on his, effectively distracting him from whatever he was about to say, focusing on the kiss instead - on the way a winged beast unfurls right below his sternum, roaring and making his heart pick up its pace as Joshua’s hands clutch his thighs, pressing him further against the opaque glass of the door. 

When they separate, Joshua’s eyes meet his own, a smirk blooming on his face. 

“Yeah, exactly like that,” he says, bumping their noses together and erupting in a twinkling laugh when Jeonghan retaliates by trying to bite him and wiggle out of his vicious hold, thrashing like a fish out of water. 

Joshua finally lets him stand back on the ground, still laughing. 

“There, there. You’re free.”

“Thanks,” Jeonghan says, glaring at him. “I hate you.”

Jeonghan is glad for the expression on Joshua’s face, because it lets him know that he isn’t the only one with feelings on the line. His breath gets stuck in his throat when Joshua strokes his fingers over his cheek, deliberately slow and sweet. Jeonghan wants to punch him. He wants to kiss him. 

“You don’t.”

“I don’t.” 

～

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/starryhoch) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/slytherminie) :)


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